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This section falls naturally into two parts. The first is the vision proper (2:1-5 [Heb 2:5-9]) which underscores the message of the former vision. The man with the measuring line probably represents those who advocated rebuilding the city walls before working on the temple. Jerusalem at this time was sparsely populated and susceptible to enemy attack because her walls had been destroyed sixty-seven years before, in 586 b.c. (2Ki 25:1, 4, 8-12). But the man in the vision was informed that the inhabitants of Jerusalem would be protected by superhuman walls of fire and the city would become so densely populated that physical walls would become impractical. God’s plans for the renovated city far exceeded the narrow and limited expectations of her inhabitants. Today God’s work in the church must never be limited by our own concerns to guard his sacred institutions of the past.
The second section (2:6-13 [Heb 2:10-17]) is marked by a change of speaker and audience. Instead of the angel speaking to Zechariah, the prophet addresses first the exiled Jews in Babylonia and then those in Jerusalem. As in most prophetic speech, he mingles God’s words with his own. In vv.6-9 he exhorts the Jews of Babylonia to flee from their land of exile because God is about to overturn the established order of the nations. The prophet then inserts his own conviction that after these things take place, they will know that he was sent by God. In the closing verses (vv.10-13) he assures those already living in Jerusalem of divine presence and election. But this newly established covenant will not be exclusive because many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day. The prophet concludes on a solemn note of expectation (v.13). When God moves into action, people must wait in reverence and silence (Hab 2:20).